Jetport flights delayed after traffic accident knocks out power

A power outage caused by a pickup truck hitting a utility pole on Portland's outer Congress Street Tuesday afternoon knocked out power to Portland International Jetport for several hours, resulting in delays of 19 commercial flights, including 11 arrivals.

The Portland Press Herald reported that hundreds of passengers were impacted by flight delays resulting from the power outage, as well as hundreds of Central Maine Power Co. customers in the Stroudwater neighborhood of Portland.

Jetport Director Paul Bradbury told the newspaper that power came back on at the jetport at 10:08 p.m., nearly seven hours after it went out. Flights were delayed because jetways extending from the terminal gate to the passenger planes rely on electricity and were unable to connect, the newspaper reported.

CMP reported that power had been restored to all affected customers by 11 p.m.

The crash also led to the city extending voting until 9:30 p.m. at the Italian Heritage Center polling station. The extension was to accommodate voters unable to reach the polls by the normal 8 p.m. closing time due to Congress Street being closed to traffic during the time that street lights and traffic signals were without power.